Hollow Inside
by Hollowstar Caelum
Summary: Hollowkit is a very unlucky kit. Her family was killed when she was very young, and she was forced to see her mother and siblings die in front of her. Throughout her life, she knows she is going to be cursed with bad luck. But how bad could it get really? My first Warriors fic. 2nd fic in total. R R, Rated T for a lot of character death. (Hollowstar and Hollowkit are not the same)
1. Chapter 1

Hollowkit was excited.

After her tragic childhood, finally she was six moons old, and free from the nursery at last! As she looked out over the cats gathered under the highledge, she hoped that she would have a kind, smart mentor, just like her mother. She had been born in Winter, and there had been an outbreak of whitecough which killed first, her smaller sister Fernkit and her brother Ashkit, and then her mother, who had refused to leave her sick kits to die alone. Her mother, Lightwing, had beautiful silver tabby fur and deep blue eyes, and she was very popular among toms for her looks, while Hollowkit's father had been a grey tom with unusual silver eyes called Rainscar, who died before she was born in a battle between Thunderclan and Shadowclan over the border's placement, bravely fighting the Shadowclan deputy, or so Hollowkit had been told by her foster mother, Whitepool. As Hollowkit looked over the cats, she saw her mother's sister Iceleaf's matching silver fur and blue eyes and she remembered when she had last seen her mother's beautiful eyes meet hers like that with such loving pity and apology. She hadn't time to wonder why Iceleaf looked as if she was trying to apologize as she was swept away into a memory.

_"Mother, why won't Fernkit wake up?"_

_Hollowkit opened her eyes sleepily and blinked at her brother as he asked their mother why Fernkit wouldn't 'wake up'. Lightwing looked sadly and oh-so-sweetly at her only son and said, simply, "She's with father now, dear." Ashkit seemed cheered by this, but Hollowkit's eyes grew wide with horror as she realised where Fernkit was...with her dead father in Starclan. Ashkit coughed suddenly, falling down suddenly with a soft thump, surprised by the coughing fit. Lightwing looked down at her sick son, terror flickering across her gaze as he coughed again and again, before flopping down onto the floor, gasping for breath._

_"Mother...help me, I can't breathe mother!" He cried breathlessly, still coughing roughly. After a few more minutes of this, he stiffened, a sickly, dangerous smell filling the air, before he went limp, his blue eyes losing the light of life and Hollowkit saw, just for a moment, the faintest outline of her brother's spirit rising from his cooling body and leaving the den. Lightwing wailed loudly, and buried her face in her dead son's fur. At that moment, insanity flashed across her gaze and she scuffled in the back of the medicine cat's den, emerging with a pawful of bright, sweet-smelling berries. The medicine cat, Mallowsoul walked in to ask if she was alright, only to see the grief-stricken queen apologize to Hollowkit, her only healthy kit, her only live kit, her only forgotten kit. She quickly swallowed the berries and her eyes rolled back in her head, before she fell down beside her two favourite children, her dead eyes focused solely on her oldest daughter's. Hollowkit didn't know what to do...what was the word for a kit with no parents again?_

_"You're...you're an orphan? Oh, Starclan, I'm sorry Hollowkit..." Breathed a shocked Mallowsoul._

Orphan..._that was the word. Hollowkit, the orphaned kit of Thunderclan. Not the proudest title...but Hollowkit saw no need for such pride at her age so, as if to prove this, she collapsed, crying out in pure fear and sorrow as she buried her face first in Fernkit's icy fur, then Ashkit's cooling fur, and then finally in her mother's still-warm, silken pelt.__  
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_"Lightwing!" She cried._

The memory broke off suddenly as she heard Sunstar call for the meeting to start:

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the highledge for a clan meeting!"

Cats began streaming from the dens, and Hollowkit tried to recognise the cats as they went past. _Iceleaf, Greyclaw, Treepool... I wonder who will be my mentor?_

Sunstar looked down upon his clan, and said in a cool, calm voice, "Vinekit**, **you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Vinepaw. Your mentor will be Greyclaw. I hope Greyclaw will pass down all he knows on to you." His gaze traveled over to the young warrior, "Greyclaw, you may be young, but you have shown great courage and wisdom worthy of any older warrior. I hope you pass down these qualities to young Vinepaw." Vinepaw walked up to his new mentor, touched noses with him and stepped back into the crowd, leaving Hollowkit alone in front of the leader. She suddenly felt very intimidated by the huge golden tom, now that she was all alone. But she hadn't time to be scared, so she looked up at her leader bravely and listened as he began her ceremony.

"Hollowkit**, **you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Hollowpaw. Your mentor will be Darkleap. I hope Darkleap will pass down all he knows on to you." Hollowkit's silver eyes grew wide as she looked over to her new mentor, a huge black tom with menacing amber eyes.

"Darkleap," continued Sunstar, "You have proven yourself many times over as a strong and courageous warrior, and I hope you will pass down these qualities to Hollowpaw." _Hollow**paw**!_ Hollowpaw walked nervously up to her new mentor, and she gently touched noses with him before receding into the crowd. Sunstar dismissed the meeting and Hollowpaw began to bound away to congratulate her adopted brother on his choice of mentor, but Darkleap called her back.

"What is it, Darkleap?" She asked, buzzing with the excitement of becoming an apprentice. _Finally_ something was going right for her...

"I need you to clean out the elder's den."

...or not. She sighed. "Yes, Darkleap." She said, and, after a pause, "Can we go explore the territory later if I finish in time?" Darkleap laughed.

"No. You'll be cleaning out the nursery too, then the warriors den, then you can pick a nest in your new den. That alright with you, kit?"

"I'm not a kit!"

Darkleap smiled. "You've been an apprentice for a few seconds. You're still a kit to me." And with that, he walked away, laughing quietly to himself. Hollowpaw growled quietly to herself, before padding over to the elder's den. As she walked in, Ivyleaf turned her head towards Hollowpaw. She almost jumped back at the elder's blind, staring eyes, but she forced herself to stay still. "Hello Ivyleaf. I'm here to clean out the den." And then, when Ivyleaf didn't respond, she said, "It's me, Hollowpaw." Still no response. "Ivyleaf?" The blind elder's head was laying on the moss of her nest, and her breathing was ragged. "Ivyleaf!" Yowled Hollowpaw, beginning to panic. "Ivyleaf!" The sickly smell that Hollowpaw had learned to fear, the sickly scent of death, filled the den, and the elder stopped breathing. Hollowpaw raced out of the den. "Mallowsoul! Darkleap! Anybody!" She cried, "Ivyleaf is dying! Ivyleaf smells of death!" Mallowsoul raced out of her den, and Darkleap padded calmly across the clearing to Hollowpaw, his gaze fixed on her paws. She looked down at them to see what he was looking at, so see them drenched in juice that carried the scent of the red berries Lightwing had used to kill herself.

"Well, Hollowpaw?" Queried Darkleap darkly, a hint of anger in his eyes. Hollowpaw ran back into the elder's den, to find the moss soaked with berry juice, and a small wad of water-soaked moss at the dead elder's paws, the water mixed with traces of the juice. _Why didn't I notice the berry juice? _Darkleap walked in behind her, eyes wide at the soaked moss.

"What did you do...did you _kill _her?" He asked in disbelief. Hollowpaw was stuck staring at Ivyleaf's body.

"I don't know..." She murmured, "I really don't know." Suddenly, she turned to him and let out a terrified cry. "Help me, Darkleap! Help me!"

**A/N- Hello, Stars! This is the longest fanfiction chapter I've written yet at a laughable 1,408 words. Lame. This is my first warriors fanfic btw, and it was written because I'm fed up of Mary-Sue's and Gary-Stu's, so I decided to write a story about a kit who loses everyone, her life spiralling downhill faster and faster into a pit she cannot climb out of, ending darkly as all of my stories do, with either main character death, main character suicide, or the main character being left alone and depressed. I'm so nice to my OC's, huh. I've got all the cats written down on a sticky note, so hopefully I won't get any names wrong. Thanks for reading!**

**QOTD- What do you think of Darkleap? Did he frame Hollowpaw and doe she hate her or is he just a strict mentor who shows his love through ordering her around? Find out next time, if you review enough. 5+ reviews for next chapter! Constructive criticism welcome! Flames? Not so much...R+R!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Hello my good friends! Long time so see! I'm sorry for being inactive, my life is kind of busy at the moment. So, so damn sorry guys...anyway! Now, for reviews!**

**Random Person: Hollowpaw's mother killed herself because Hollowkit was her least favourite and she couldn't bear losing her two favourite kits...she was very over-emotional in life.**

**Yoloswagunit: Thank you! ^-^**

**I'm going to make a point system for whoever reviews the closest to the actual answer, but no-one gets any points yet.**

**And what of the QOTD? Well, let's find out!**

***checks clock* Ah...I'm going to have to write this in two parts, I've only got about 10 minutes at the moment. Well, time is time! Let's get to work!**

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><p>Hollowpaw stared fearfully into her new mentor's glowing amber eyes, only to see her own horror reflected in them. When Darkleap had sauntered casually across the clearing towards her, she had thought he had done this and he was trying to frame her, but now she began to doubt her first accusation. <em>Who had killed Ivyleaf? <em>She walked shakily back into the empty den reeking of death, and carefully stepped around Ivyleaf's limp, cooling body to see if she could find any clue to who had done this. But only her own familiar scent, Ivyleaf's stale scent, and Darkleap's fresh scent, new to the musty air of the den, were present. _Then who could've killed her? _She backed quickly out of the den, Darkleap quickly shuffling backwards behind her as he got out of her way. He growled inwardly, wanting answers as much as Hollowpaw. Mallowsoul stood speechless and gaping outside the den, but as the huge black warrior turned his cold amber gaze upon the small pale grey tom, he sprung to life.

"Who did this?!" He spluttered, "Did you scent anyone?" Hollowpaw shook her head.

"No. Only my scent, Darkleap's and Ivyleaf's." Darkleap pushed his way back into the elders den, and a few moments later he emerged.

"She's telling the truth."

Mallowsoul's ears flicked back. "I didn't doubt she was...then who killed Ivyleaf? We must report this to Sunstar." Darkleap nodded.

"Come on, Hollowpaw" He said, padding away towards the Leader's den. Sunstar was outside, talking to Grasstail. As Darkleap stalked towards her, Hollowpaw timidly scuttling behind, Grasstail raised her head, and then Sunstar also raised his head. The golden, aging tom's eyes were dull, and they stared disinterestedly through Hollowpaw and Darkleap. Apparently her mentor also noticed this, as he turned to Grasstail and quickly told her about Ivytail's suspicious death. Her grass-green eyes grew wide as the story progressed, and by the end of it she had leapt to her feet and she began to run across the clearing to Mallowsoul and Ivyleaf. She skidded to a halt outside the den and slipped inside, reappearing a moment later dragging the sandy-furred elder behind her. She quickly checked the elder's pelt, teeth and then her claws. She suddenly gasped, awkwardly balancing one of the dead she-cat's forepaws on one of her own. She wordlessly pointed to a small, squashed berry pierced upon one of the elder's sticky pinkish-red-stained claws. She didn't need to say anything for the other three cats to get what she was telling them. _Suicide. _Hollowpaw growled softly. _Why didn't I notice that? _At that moment, the deputy Greyclaw padded calmly through the entrance, trailed by a small patrol. Suddenly, noticing the group clustered around the death-scented elder, he froze, muttered something to the rest of his patrol and ran over.

"What in the name of StarClan _happened_?" He cried, blue eyes wide. Darkleap stepped out of the way so Greyclaw could see the berry on Ivyleaf's claw, and Greyclaw growled. "Was that there before, by any chance?" He snarled at the gathered cats. Hollowpaw felt Darkleap and Mallowsoul's eyes burn into her grey pelt and she shrank back.

"I didn't notice it before, but..." She trailed off. Darkleap stepped forwards.

"Me neither." He said, defending his new apprentice. Greyclaw raked his gaze over the gathered cats.

"Who was last in the den?" He asked coldly. Hollowpaw turned her gaze to Grasstail, as did Mallowsoul and Darkleap. The tabby she-cat's pale green eyes grew wide as everyone's gazes fixed on her and her ears flicked back defensively.

"I didn't kill her." She growled softly, "What would I gain from killing poor, unfortunate Ivyleaf?" Hollowpaw narrowed her strangely coloured eyes at the warrior and slipped once again into the den. Suddenly, she noticed something laying in Ivyleaf's now vacant nest. She realised that the dead elder's body must've covered it before, or she would've noticed it. Or rather, _them._ There, lying in the cold, damp moss was a small tuft of the elder's patchy, unkempt fur, and a larger tuft of tabby fur that smelled of Grasstail. _Grasstail! She killed poor Ivyleaf! _However, as she was about to spin around and put forth her accusation, Grasstail slipped into the den beside her, and quietly lifted away her fur. As Hollowpaw opened her mouth to complain, Grasstail clamped her tail over the younger cat's mouth and tore a small piece of fur from her grey pelt, placing it where her own fur had previously lain. Then, with a dramatic gasp, she spun round, dashing out the den. Hollowpaw sprinted, terrified, after the treacherous warrior. Grasstail was already speaking.

"Hollowpaw's fur is in Ivyleaf's nest!" She cried, "Hollowpaw must've killed poor Ivyleaf!" She then let out a long, mournful cry and Mallowsoul rested his tail upon her tabby-pelted shoulder, trying to comfort the distraught she-cat. All eyes, amber, green, blue, rested upon the newly apprenticed Hollowpaw's ruffled grey pelt, and she backed away, ears flat against her head.

"I didn't kill her!" She sobbed, "I just came in to clear out her nest. It was Grasstail! Her fur was in the nest first! I didn't kill her!" Darkleap stared down at her in disbelief, while Greyclaw and Mallowsoul both let out a threatening growl.

"If this is true..." Snarled Greyclaw, tail lashing from side to side. Suddenly Mallowsoul's tail shot up.

"Wait, Hollowpaw called us over! Why would a murderer call the enemy to the crime-scene if they were still there?" He asked, excited but shocked. "I think she's telling the truth." He spun round, fur bristling and eyes glowing. "Grasstail!" He yowled, glaring right into her grass-coloured eyes. "You killed Ivyleaf!" Grasstail's eyes went from scared to annoyed, then furious and malicious.

"So what if I did, huh?" She growled, her timid facade wiped clean away, "That stupid smelly waste of fresh-kill deserved to die! After all, she is a killer herself! An eye for an eye!" Darkleap, Greyclaw and Mallowsoul looked questioningly at Grasstail.

"Who did she kill?" Asked Darkleap cooly. Grasstail's fur bushed up and her eyes glazed over as she was swept away into a memory.

_"Grasspaw!" Yowled Ivyleaf, battling fiercely with a Shadowclan she-cat. "Jump on them from behind so I can pin them down!" Grasspaw dashed to her mentor's side only to freeze as she saw the enemy's appearance. Her eyes were grass-green and her pelt was pale tabby. Grasspaw looked down at her own pale tabby fur with her grass-green eyes and with a jolt, she realised this cat was the mother she had searched for all her life._

_"Ivyleaf, wait!" She cried, "Stop a minute!" But Ivyleaf kept on battling, and Grasspaw was forced to watch her mother be given the killing bite by her murderous mentor. Ivyleaf turned her gaze upon Grasspaw. _

_"What is it, my apprentice?" She asked. Grasspaw collapsed to her knees, a thin, mournful wail finding it's way from her throat as she stared down onto her mother's corpse. Grasspaw raised her head, hatred burning in her eyes._

_"She was my mother." She spat, "And you killed her. You killed my mother." Ivyleaf recoiled as if Hollowpaw had struck her and she sank down beside her apprentice._

_"Treeclaw was your mother, Grasspaw?" She breathed in horror and disbelief, "Oh, Starclan, I'm so sorry." She flopped down beside the apprentice with a soft sob. "I'm so, so sorry." As if on cue, the rain began to fall upon the empty, bloodstained battlefield and upon the two mourning cats, with one filled with such horror and regret, and the other filled with a fiery hunger for revenge..._

_"_Grasstail!" Someone poked her in the side. "Grasstail, hello?" She opened her eyes to see Hollowpaw poking her in the side, the young she-cat's eyes filled with conflicted feelings. "Oh. Shes awake."

"So?" Pressed Darkleap, glaring menacingly at her. Grasstail sighed softly and then, in a tired, lonely voice, she explained how Ivyleaf had killed her mother Treeclaw in icy cold blood. The gathered cats' eyes grew wide, and eventually the small group thinned until it was just Greyclaw and Grasstail.

"I must speak to Sunstar about this, Grasstail." He said, unthreatening for once. "Come." And with that, he walked away towards the tired old golden tom crouched outside the leader's den, Grasstail slowly following behind. Hollowpaw watched them walk across the clearing with wide silver eyes. _I know what she did was horrible, but I hope Sunstar goes easy on her. She's been through a lot. _But then, she realised how old Sunstar was looking, and she found herself wondering if he would even address the issue at all. _If Greyclaw is in charge of the outcome of this, she'll surely be exiled from ThunderClan!_

_I can't let that happen to poor Grasstail!_

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><p><strong>AN Phew, another chapter! I think it's either longer or about the same length as the last installment, but this one took a helluva lot longer to write! I haven't got any plot laid out, just a basic goal and a list of characters. Thanks for reading, please review, constructive criticism welcome.**

**QOTD: Who is Hollowpaw's father?**


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